Bruno Magli

The three Magli siblings founded the company in 1936 in the basement of their Bologna home, having learned shoemaking from their grandfather. The first Magli Shoe Factory was established the same year. The U.S. unit filed Chapter 11 around April 2004 and exited in January 2005. In 2001, a Luxembourg-based investment fund Opera (half-owned by Bulgari) acquired a controlling interest. UK private equity fund Fortelus Capital acquired the brand in 2007. Swiss fund Da Vinci Invest AG acquired the brand from Fortelus in January 2014. The Court of Bologna approved a creditor composition for Bruno Magli SpA in December 2014. Marquee Brands acquired the brand and IP in early 2015 (announced January 12, 2015), making this Marquee's first acquisition (the firm itself was launched in September 2014 by Neuberger Berman Private Equity).

Marquee's very first acquisition. The Bologna design and manufacturing continuity is genuinely a positive signal compared to other holdings, but the brand has cycled through five owners since the family's sale in 2001 and now sits inside a portfolio that includes Stance, BCBG, Body Glove, Ben Sherman, and Laura Ashley.